Values, Attitudes, and Their Effects in the Workplace

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Values, Attitudes, and Their Effects in the
Workplace
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Chapter Outline

• Values
• Canadian Social Values
• Values Across Cultures
• Implications for OB
• Attitudes
• The Attitude of Job Satisfaction

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Values, Attitudes, and Their Effects in the
Workplace

• Explain the source of an individuals value
  system
• List the dominant values in todays workforce
• Describe the three primary job-related attitudes
• Summarize the relationship between attitudes and
  behaviour
• Explain what determines job satisfaction
• State the relationship between job satisfaction
  and behaviour
• Describe the current level of job satisfaction
  among Canadians in the workplace
• Identify four employee responses to
  dissatisfaction

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Values

• Values
• Basic convictions that a specific mode of
  conduct or end-state of existence is personally
  or socially preferable to an opposite or converse
  mode of conduct or end-state of existence.
• They contain a judgmental element in that they
  carry the individuals idea of what is right,
  good, or desirable.
• Value System -- a hierarchy based on a ranking of
  an individuals values in terms of their
  intensity.
• Importance of Values
• Values generally influence attitudes and
  behaviour.

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Assessing Cultural Values

• Power Distance
• Individualism Versus Collectivism
• Quantity of Life Versus Quality of Life
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Long-term versus Short-term Orientation

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Canadian Social Values

• The Elders
• Those over 50
• Core Values Belief in order, authority,
  discipline, and the Golden Rule
• The Boomers
• Born mid-1940s to mid-1960s
• Autonomous rebels, anxious communitarians,
  connected enthusiasts, disengaged Darwinists
• Generation X
• Born mid-1960s to early 1980s
• Thrill-seeking materialists, aimless dependents,
  social hedonists, new Aquarians, autonomous
  post-materialists

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Francophone and Anglophone Values

• Francophone Values
• More collectivist or group-oriented
• Greater need for achievement
• Concerned with interpersonal aspects of workplace
• Value affiliation

• Anglophone Values
• Individualist or I-centred
• More task-centred
• Take more risks
• Value autonomy

8
Canadian Aboriginal Values

• More collectivist in orientation
• More likely to reflect and advance the goals of
  the community
• Greater sense of family in the workplace
• Greater affiliation and loyalty
• Power distance lower than non-Aboriginal culture
  of Canada and the U.S.
• Greater emphasis on consensual decision-making

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Canadian and American Values

• Canadian Values
• Protectionist business environment
• Personality more shy and deferential, less
  violent, more courteous
• More rule-oriented
• Peace, order, equality

• American Values
• Greater faith in the family, the state, religion,
  and the market
• More comfortable with big business
• Intense competition in business
• Individuality and freedom

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Attitudes

• Evaluative statements or judgments concerning
  objects, people, or events.
• Attitudes less stable than values

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Types of Attitudes

• Job Satisfaction
• . . . refers to an individuals general attitude
  toward his or her job.
• Job Involvement
• . . . measures the degree to which a person
  identifies psychologically with his or her job
  and considers his or her perceived performance
  level important to self-worth.
• Organizational Commitment
• . . . a state in which an employee identifies
  with a particular organization and its goals, and
  wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

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Canadian Job Satisfaction (1997)

• 86 percent report that they are satisfied with
  their jobs
• 47 percent very satisfied with their jobs
• 39 percent more somewhat satisfied
• 71 percent find jobs are challenging and
  interesting
• 44 percent strongly agree
• 27 percent somewhat agree
• 75 percent say they are treated fairly at work
• But
• 40 percent would not recommend their place of
  work
• 40 percent report red tape and bureaucracy

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Job Satisfaction

• What Determines Job Satisfaction?
• Mentally Challenging Work
• Equitable Rewards
• Supportive Working Conditions
• Supportive Colleagues
• Personality - Job Fit
• Heredity/Genes

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Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance

• Satisfaction Affects
• Individual Productivity
• Organizational Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover

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Exhibit 4-2Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
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Exhibit 4-5Sample Attitude Survey
Please answer each of the following statements
using the following rating scale
5 Strongly agree 4 Agree 3 Undecided 2
Disagree 1 Strongly disagree
Statement
Rating
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Summary and Implications

• Values strongly influence a persons attitudes.
• An employees performance and satisfaction are
  likely to be higher if his or her values fit well
  with the organization.
• Managers should be interested in their employees
  attitudes because attitudes give warning signs of
  potential problems and because they influence
  behaviour.
• Managers should also be aware that employees will
  try to reduce cognitive dissonance.